TELEVISION STAR Gethin Jones will celebrate his 33rd birthday in style – by watching four Engage Super League games at the Millennium Stadium.

The former Blue Peter host and Strictly Come Dancing sensation fell in love with rugby league while studying at Manchester Met University.

He said: “I did a bit of rugby league coaching when I was at university and I played for the university team. I absolutely love the sport. It was so fast, ferocious and fair – in that it was just man against man – and it really appealed to me.”

Now Gethin, who recently helped to launch the countdown to the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, is gearing up for an action-packed day at the Millennium Stadium.

“Millennium Magic is a brilliant idea,” he said. “What amazes me is that you’ve got seven games in one weekend and all the fans mix together brilliantly.

“If you go to a Challenge Cup Final, you’ll see every club represented in the crowd, not just the two who are playing. That’s a very special thing.

“Rugby league fans are fans of the sport first and their club second.”

The Welsh celebrity speaks from experience, having played rugby league for St Helens-based Blackbrook RLFC while a host of Blue Peter.

Jones has also trained with England second rower Jon Wilkin and even watched England play Australia in Melbourne last October.

“I got to meet some of the squad beforehand,” said Jones. “They are absolutely huge blokes and they’re ridiculously fit.”

He added: “In some ways rugby league can be more appealing to watch than rugby union. The breakdown in rugby union can be very difficult to understand, whereas with rugby league you’ve got six tackles to get to the try-line, and that’s it.”

As a proud Welshman, Jones is desperate to see the Crusaders have another good year after they reached the Engage Super League play-offs in 2010.

And with former dual-code international Iestyn Harris now in charge of Super League’s only Welsh club, Jones reckons success is just around the corner.

He said: “I’ve heard that Iestyn is a brilliant coach. Jonathan Davies used to say to me that Iestyn was so good as a player that it took a while for the rugby union guys to understand him and get on his wavelength.

“Gareth Thomas is also going back to the Millennium Stadium, and he’s still got it. He brings so much experience to the Crusaders. It’s going to be really interesting seeing how they get on this year.”

But Millennium Magic is not the only high profile rugby league event coming to Wales.

The 2013 Rugby League World Cup will be jointly hosted by England and Wales, giving Welsh fans the chance to see some of the sport’s elite from across the globe.

Jones said: “Staging the tournament the year after the Olympics is a brilliant idea because they can ride that feel-good wave.

“I’ll certainly be there and so will my mates. We were born and bred on rugby union, not really realising rugby league was there, but that’s something that’s changing now and it’s a brilliant sport to watch or play.

“There were some outstanding matches in last year’s Four Nations and the skill level was out of this world. When you’ve got that high quality a product, it’s only a matter of time before the game really begins to spread.”

And Jones has one final message for the Welsh sporting public.

“If you haven’t experienced rugby league, come and see it for yourself because it’s absolutely magic. And if you see me on Saturday, buy me a pint because it’s my birthday!”